24 could only provide a lame pretext when one to two hours could not be spared within a space of four years. Above all, institutional pride and identity should be sufficient for collegiate participation.
Looking Ahead (A) Teaching Not few institutions adopt the method of engaging senior professors to teach while using tutors or teaching assistants for the tutorials. This seems to be the traditional, colonial way of teaching large lecture courses which, in turn, seems to be a modified version of Oxford University’s university lectures delivered by university lecturers and professors with tutorials being taught by college tutors who are themselves learned fellows and scholars. That is to say, the term, “tutors,” refers to those on equal footing with lecturers and professors. Smaller Classes Taught by the Professors Themselves: The question to reflect upon is the grounds for adopting the professor lecturing and the tutor/teaching assistant tutoring system for general education courses. Apart from logistical reasons, is it also due to the concern for providing a “common experience” for every student? If so, what does “common” mean? Everyone taking one particular core course will have attended the lectures of the same professor, and yet being tutored by different tutors of more junior intellectual calibre? Is it necessary that one voice be given to the course content and texts, especially when the whole range of reading can never be covered by the lectures? In short, what is learnt in the lectures is quantitatively restricted by the number of lecture hours, which means that the common experience is not so substantial. That being the case, could it not be an option to split the large lectures into smaller classes so that there can be more personalised and interactive teaching and learning, with the professors marking the course work themselves? The success of GE relies on the quality of the courses which, in turn, depends on quality marking assuming, no doubt, that professors take their job seriously. Use of Overseas Postdoctoral Scholars and ABDs (All-but-Dissertation):